A Picture Says It All
by sammi.carnivore
Summary: Little Madeline decides to finally talk to the boy she had liked since the first day she stepped into the classroom. Little does she know, the picture she draws for him will have a great significance in her life and in his. EdgeworthxOC


"_I hope he likes it." _She thought to herself. Her little green crayon danced gracefully across the large piece of paper she had in front of her. A few other crayons of different colours strayed from the neat little pile she had put them in and rolled off of the desk she had been working at. However, she hardly seemed to notice this. She had been much too focused with the picture she was drawing to fuss over a few lost crayons. It _had _to be perfect. The picture had to be her _best_ work.

Little Madeline had never really taken drawing so seriously until now. Usually she wouldn't care if her kittens looked like over-sized cows that had jumped into a vat of nuclear waste or if her people looked like a mistake of science; but this time it was of the utmost importance for her drawing to look nice.

"_Almost done..." _ She thought, a smile spreading across her face as she added the final touches to her masterpiece. Madeline extended her short little arm and grasped a red crayon in her tiny hand. Her large blue eyes lit up as she signed the picture in the lower right hand corner.

_**Lov, Madeline.**_

She had mistakenly forgotten the 'e' at the end of the word 'love'. It was a simple error, and something you could expect from her. She made her mark with a small little heart next to her name with the red crayon; setting it down gingerly as she held up the piece of paper in front of her. She had finally finished it. She had finished the perfect gift for him. Now it was time to deliver.

Suddenly, it had felt as if a colony of butterflies had erupted in her stomach. It had just dawned on her that in order to deliver it to him, she had to actually _talk _to him.

Trying to be a brave little girl, Madeline stood up with her picture being held with both of her hands. Her light brown, drill-like pigtails bobbed slightly as she walked with her eyes fixed to her feet. She silently had to encourage every step; that task becoming harder and harder as she drew closer to him. He did not seem to notice her approaching, which made her happy. It was one of the most awkward moments when someone knows you walking up to talk to them; you keep walking in silence, they say nothing but your gaze is still met the entire journey, and then you struggle to remember what you were going to say.

This was not the case, however. Oh, far from it.

"Um…Miles?" Madeline questioned in a soft tone as she stood at his side.

Miles Edgeworth had been peacefully working on an Edgeworth Family portrait, until his name had been uttered. He looked up from his paper and met Madeline's gaze, "Yes?" he inquired, giving her his full attention.

Madeline had taken a while to respond, but after a few moments of silence she held out the picture she had drawn, "I-I drew it for you." She said, smiling at him.

Miles returned the smile as he took the picture into his hands. He looked down at the drawing and smiled.

"Do you like it?" she asked, hands folded behind her back as she leaned over slightly to get a better view of his expression.

Miles merely chuckled to himself; not making eye contact with her as his gaze fixed on the little heart she had drawn.

"What?! What is it?!" she demanded in a slightly concerned tone. Had she done something wrong? Was it a stupid idea? Was he laughing at her?

"You forgot the 'e' in 'love'," he said, looking up at her with a charming little smile.

Madeline's eyes widened, "Huh? Oh, I'm sorry! I'm so spacey sometimes!" she tried to explain. Great, she had misspelled a simple four-letter word on what was supposed to be a perfect picture.

Miles chuckled once more and then went back to smiling up at her, "No, it's fine. I love it." He replied.

"Really?" Madeline asked, her expression brightening up drastically.

He nodded in reply and held up his drawing so that she could see, "Do you like mine?" he asked.

Madeline nodded, "Yeah!" she replied in a happy tone, "Is that you and your Dad?" she asked.

"Yes. I want to be just like him! I want to be a great defense attorney one day!" he cried; every word uttered with an enthusiastic tone.

Madeline sat down at the desk next to his and asked him about being a defense attorney. Eventually the conversation moved to another topic, and then another, and another. The conversation continued for what seemed like hours.

She was young and naïve, but Madeline had truly thought she had fallen in love with young Miles Edgeworth.

The noise in the background had completely disappeared; Madeline only cared for what Miles had to say. However, to both their dismay, the bell had rung and it was time for them to depart from the classroom and head back home. The two said their goodbyes and they had gone their separate ways. That would the last time they would speak to each other for a very long time.

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Madeline walked in the next day with a slight bob in her step, causing her ever-so-adorable drill-tails to bounce up and down. She had been looking forward to talking with Miles again all night last night. She was smiling from ear to ear until she stepped foot into the classroom. Miles' seat had been empty.

"_Maybe he's just sick." _She thought hopefully.

Another day passed by, and Madeline had continued to tell herself that he was just sick.

Two days. Three days. Four days.

Finally, on the fifth day, Madeline had spoken up. "Where's Miles?" she asked the teacher; staring up at her with a worried gaze.

Teacher frowned and knelt down to her level and looked her in the eyes, "Miles Edgeworth moved. He had to transfer." She replied calmly.

Madeline said nothing. If she had done anything but just stand there and stare at the teacher, she would have cried in front of the class.

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When Madeline returned home, she immediately bolted upstairs to her room; tears brimmed her eyes as she stumbled up the stairs. The tears began to quickly blur her vision as she pushed open the door. Finally letting them pour down her cheeks, Madeline began to tear her room apart, "Where is it?! Where is it?!" she hissed to herself, throwing items in every-which direction. "Where is it?!" she wailed desperately. She had to find the picture she had drawn for Miles; she just _had _to.

Madeline's mother had heard the chaos upstairs and had become concerned. She hurried up the stairs and opened the door, "Maddi, sweetie, what's the matter?" she asked as she slowly pushed her way into the room.

Madeline had completely disregarded her mother and continued to throw her stuffed animals and various other items across the room. She paused to sniffled and wipe her cheeks. She just stood there and stared at the wall, sniffling every now and then.

Madeline's mother took another step inside, "Madeline, what are you doing?" she asked, looking at the destruction with disbelief.

"I can't find it…" she whispered.

"What?" Her mother questioned, thoroughly confused with her daughter's sudden behavior.

"Mommy! Go away!" she shrieked, whipping around to face her mother.

With that, Madeline's mother left the room. She had a great respect for her daughter's privacy and knew that she would eventually calm down if she was given her space.

Madeline fell to the floor and wrapped her arms around her legs as she brought her knees to her chin. A few more tears dripped down her face, "Miles…" she whispered.

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Miles Edgeworth woke up with a jolt. Miles, now twenty-four years of age, had been reading over an upcoming case before he had fallen into a deep sleep. He had dreamed of the day that Madeline had given him the picture; the rest was just what he imagined happened afterwards."That girl…" he muttered, blinking his eyes a few times to recover from his nap. Something in his mind suddenly clicked. Immediately he tore open a drawer and looked through a bunch of papers. They had been some memories he had kept from his childhood in case he felt the need to view them in the years to come.

His face turned grim when he came across the picture. Not just any picture, _her _picture.

Two people had been drawn crudely, but with a fair amount of care, in the center of the page. They seemed to be holding hands in the middle of a sunny field. Despite the lack of artistic talent in the picture, he had immediately recognized who the two people had been. Her and him; together.

His gaze then, for some reason, moved to the lover right hand corner.

_**Lov, Madeline.**_

"Madeline…" Miles muttered, "I remember you now," he added with a small smile. However, it quickly faded when he turned back to the case file. A picture of a young woman with wavy light brown hair and lovely blue eyes had been attached to the file with a large paper clip. Miles then looked at the paper behind the picture. His heart sank slightly when he read the text of the homicide case.

"**Victim: Madeline Rosett"**

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**AN: **I hope you guys liked it! I'm sorry that it was so long, but I really wanted it to just be a one-shot. It'd be odd if it went by chapters. xD I think it sort of turned into an after-school special when Madeline started throwing a fit, or maybe even before that. Eh, whatever. Please review! I thought it was a good concept, and I tried really hard not to make it insta-love. xD Oh! If you decide to review, tell me if I should make a quick sequel to this or not. w I was thinking about doing the actual homicide case, but I wasn't sure if it would just be one of those stories that didn't need a sequel and the sequel just ruined it. Thanks!


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